Law Firm Steps Up on Law School Student Debt

What keeps you up at night?  Now that you are practicing law, it is no longer the pesky Secured Transactions exam that required a lot more studying than you anticipated.  No, now that you are an official part of the profession, the one thing that probably interferes with your sleep is the possibility of NEVER having your law school loans paid off.  Well, join the crowd.  There are plenty of you whose sweet dreams are being interfered with by this ominous thought.

Well, for those who think that law firm leaders do not have a collective conscience and could care less about your student loan debt, here is very good news.  One law firm has distinguished itself in caring about the future of its young lawyers.

Hats off to Latham Watkins for reaching down a helping hand to its debt-ridden junior lawyers.  It was announced recently that Latham had brilliant moments of thinking outside the box to co-opt some of its banking clients and negotiate a good interest rate for its young lawyers on some of their law school debt.  That’s one way to get young lawyers better rested and more focused on their billable hours, so it is a win-win for all.

Here are the terms for Latham lawyers.  For all student debt in excess of $50K, the interest rate negotiated is 2.75 —-certainly preferable to standard rates offered on government loans and even by some private banks.  Since most law students — except for those keeping the rent down by living in cardboard boxes under bridges or the lucky ones who are scholarship recipients — most individual law school debt is likely to exceed $50K and be eligible for this program.

What a boon to these young Latham lawyers!  The law firm loyalty meter probably went off the chart at the announcement of this program, as it should.  If law firms are truly the impersonal, dark and uncaring institutions we so often hear about, this is uplifting news.

And think about this.  It can be argued that it is not in the best interest of law firms to help young lawyers reduce student loan debt.  After all, high student loan debt keeps a lot of young lawyers in practice JUST to pay off their debt.  This high debt load is often referred to as the Golden Handcuffs that eliminate career options for many lawyers.   So, the more the law firm helps these young lawyers pay off their debt, the more options available to the young lawyers in the future — and that may not be good for the firms.

So, something else is at work here.   Something better.  Could it be heart?  And so close to Valentines Day!

Whatever it is, I hope it catches on.  Most big law firms today have financial services clients.  It is time for law firm leaders to have a chat with them!

Read more about the Latham Watkins initiative on Above the Law.

This entry was posted in Career Counselors, Law Firm Managers, Law School Educators, Law Students, Lifestyle, Pre-law, Young Lawyer. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *